Maggie Orth thinks a lot about art. After graduating turn lights on and off — are a hit in the design com-
from RISD with a degree in painting, however, she munity, with a wall-sized display at Cooper-Hewitt
realized that the traditional art path was not for her. National Design Museum in 2005, and coverage in
“I stopped making paintings because I did not want magazines from Wired to Dwell to The Economist.
to make rarefied objects for the gallery,” she says. And although you can buy one online, it’s still
She ended up at MIT’s media lab and began Ph.D. about art. “For me,” Orth says, “a UL-listed, patented
studies intending to create “soft” musical instruments, electronic pompom is funny and surreal and in the
starting with a playable jean jacket that combined a tradition of Duchamp. It is transgressive. It ques-
wearable synthesizer with an embroidered keypad. tions the idea that products are about needs, that
This launched her into the world of conductive technology is about ‘progress.’”
fibers and electronic textiles, and her next projects Orth has also begun creating huge interactive
included her shimmering Firefly dress and necklace, artworks, on display in galleries and science and
which used conductive velcro and tassels. design museums, as well as releasing ElectroPuff
Why electronic textiles? “I think my attraction to pompom lamp dimmers (and even a DIY kit).
them is fetishistic,” Orth admits. “Electronic textiles “Making products is part of my artistic process,
are perverse. They are the opposite of what we just as the logistics behind Christo’s work is part of
expect from technology: they are soft — dark and his,” says Orth. “I have spent many years trying to
slow. They are handmade. They are feminine.” choose one or the other — products or art. In the
Degrees in hand, Orth, now 44, founded Interna- end, I have come to accept that the two venues are tional Fashion Machines in Seattle to commercialize duality in my work.” —Arwen O’Reilly Griffith some of her ideas. Her pompom switches and dimmers — colorful, fuzzy sensors that allow users to
Photography by International Fashion Machines
>>Maggie Orth: maggieorth.com
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